Non-Traditional Cardio Activity

Continuing with our monthly guest blogger...here is another installment from one of our trainers, Joseph Mattingly.

If you are like me, you don’t particularly enjoy cardio.  You may loathe the cardio area in the gym as do I.  You may not mind running outside from time to time, but cannot stand the thought of pounding away on the treadmill. The cardio area may turn your stomach.  So here is a solution.  For now, avoid the treadmill, stair-master, elliptical, bike etc. Instead of the old steady state machine-type cardio, here are some tips and ideas to break up the monotony and increase the intensity and effectiveness of your cardio sessions.  For all eight of these exercises/routines, minimal rest time is encouraged.

Ball Slams:

Find a heavy medicine ball, bend over, pick it up overhead, and slam it.  Now REPEAT.  If you want, throw in some side to side action, either with the slam, by slamming to one side then the next.  Or by slamming the ball then sliding laterally and then slamming it again, going from point A back to Point B and slamming the ball at each point.  There are lots of variations so be creative.

Battle Ropes: 

Slam the ropes up and down, side to side, alternating, slam and then lateral slide and slam again, or all of the above done back to back etc.  However you do it, do it quickly and powerfully and for at least 30 seconds.

Hills:

Tall hill, short hill...it doesn’t matter.  Run the long hills and sprint the short hills.  Here at PROMATx there is a short hill/incline in front of the parking lot that doesn’t look like much.  However, sprint up that hill and back down, 5-10 times in a row and it starts to look more imposing.

Plyometrics:

Jump around a lot.  Squat jumps, jumping knee tucks, box jumps, broad jumps, high knee skips, lateral bench hops etc.  All of these movements target the legs, core, and heart and burn tons of calories, all while making you more athletic. 

Jump-Rope:

Up and down, side to side, jumping jack, knees up, jog and jump, reverse jumps, etc.  There are many variations to keep the jump rope interesting, and for many people just your regular up and down jump rope motion will be plenty challenging, especially in the beginning.

Weighted Sled: 

The weighted sled, whether pushing it, or pulling it, is one of the best, if not THE BEST way to burn fat, ramp up intensity, and puke quickly (just joking).  This is currently my favorite fat burn/intensity-booster exercise.

Circuit Training/Low- or No-rest Periods:

For this type of training, you can use free weights, machines, body weight, or a combination of all three.  Whatever implements you use, the most important way to get cardio out of your lifting is to minimize rest periods to a minute or less between sets and exercises.  Try to have a plan, and that way you can bounce from station to station quickly with no wasted time and effort, which will make your workout that much more productive and fun.  Another tip, use antagonist muscle groups, i.e., chest and then back, as a way to keep moving without repeating the same muscle group over again.  My favorite way of doing this is to do a “push”, then “pull”, and then a lower body move.

Cardio Intensive Sports:

Go sign up for a cardio based sport, such as basketball, soccer, flag football, Ultimate Frisbee, tennis, swimming.  If you sign up with a friends you will be more inclined to actually come to games and practices, so consider this especially if you are not a very self-motivated person.

These are just a few ideas of how to break that monotony of walking on a treadmill or swinging on the Arc Trainer.  Try your hand at a few of these ideas, but be sure to have a towel and water bottle close by...you'll definitely need it!!